Tafralian was last seen at a the now-defunct Sacca bar in Manchester, New Hampshire on July 10, 1963. He was carrying a large amount of cash at the time, the payroll for his work crew. The next day, Tafralian's green Rambler station wagon was found abandoned on a street in North End, New Hampshire. An unidentified man, not Tafralian, was seen wiping the car's steering wheel with a handkerchief before the vehicle was discovered. Resulting searches over the years turned up no sign of Tafralian.

Tafralian's wife was in California at the time of his disappearance, celebrating the birth of their first grandchild. He was employed as an aluminum windows and siding salesman and may also have been a bookie, a man who takes bets from gamblers. His loved ones describe Tafralian as a loving family man who would not disappear without warning. Police believe he may have met with foul play.

In 2004, police acting on a tip searched again for evidence in Tafralian's case, using a metal detector. The detector indicated the presence of a metal object about thirteen feet long and seven feet wide, buried over a dozen feet under a diverted stream near the Manchester Country Club. A civil engineer who studied the area believes the stream could not have developed the diversion naturally; authorities theorize that someone made the diversion on purpose to cover up what they were burying. Police believe that the buried object is a car and that Tafralian's body is inside it. They lack the evidence to get a search warrant to conduct digs in the area, however, so their theory cannot be investigated further.

Tafralian was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He studied piano at the New England Conservatory of Music before his marriage. His case is unsolved.